mmcfa2

I have a 5ml of Wanda, that I received with a lab order on december 19th and that smells weird to me.

 

From the imp I really liked the scent, but I had only ever tried it once or twice. It was a rich, slightly bitter, slightly sharpish, smokey wine note that I enjoyed a lot.

 

From since I got the bottle, I never wore it much, but when I tried the other day, I got this really vinegar-y, herbal, pungent smell from it, that was just awful. I had to wash it off.

 

I then thought that this might be a hormone/time of the month issue, especially as there is myrtle involved and I remembered to have read something around that topic about myrtle. But anytime I open the bottle, I get the same vinegar-y smell from it.

I haven't tried it again yet, as just sniffing the bottle I feel repulsed by the strong vinegar-ness of it.

 

What's changed about your Wanda? If you get the vinegar scent as well, maybe there is something wrong with recent batches. (?) The wine note going sour or something.(???)

 

ETA: I'm just testing this again. I applied very sparingly from the rim on my left wrist. First it's all old vinegar again, like a salad bowl you leave dirty for some days because you're too lazy to do the washing up straight away. Old balsamico.

Somehow I can see how this perception is due to the wine and leather intemingling. Once it settles, the scent widens, like the components gaining space to seperate from each other and develop into their true selves. I still get a hint of vinegar, if I think of it. Some clever person on the forums some time said something along the lines of this before. Like, if once you think that scent x smells like y, you'll stick to this association subconsciously and won't perceive anything else but y.

So, now that the spot of Wanda on my wrist has dried, if I try not to think "vinegar", I can smell the wine note which is rich and deep and the leather which is airy and high, and the flowers raising above that.

The throw is delicious, floral and fruity without being cloying. I really get the florals in the throw of it. If sniffing my wrist like two centimetres above skin, I get the wine and leather and a little bit of floral, something sweet. If I stick my nose right to my wrist it's vinegar again.

In the end I think that the difference might be between imp and bottle. Not sure why that should be though. Maybe because there's more perfume, it'll smell more intense to the point of inrecognizability (is this English?).

 

mmcfa2, did you have a bottle of Wanda before? My imp had been fresh from the lab I received it on 1st of October 2005.

The first ottle is from early 2005, this new bottle is fresh from the lab a few days ago. the old bottle smells of sweet berry wine, roses and leather. upon application it is too fruity and almost overwhelming and I have to avoid my wrist, but after a few minutes it settles and blooms and the rose and the leather rise to the surface and I ADORE it. This new bottle smells smoky and acrid, there is no recogenizeable rose, no sweet wine. It' is about as different as I could imagine and bears no resemblance to the original. I am used to variations in the oils bottle to bottle but this is WAY different, almost as if it had a huge dollop of opium or myrrh added to it ( those two notes tend to smell like hairspray or solvent to me.) It never morphs into anything at this point. Of course I will try it again in a few weeks, but I'm not having homone issues atm and I am fearful that this just can never even come vaguely close to the original.

As a matter of fact, I got a smidge from my arm on the keyboard and the smell that is rising from it is nauseating.

wet: dragon's blood

dry: the dragon's blood is gone and this is pure deep musk.

sigh: but I bought it for the dragon's blood

I would like this much more on a man.

Anyone gotten a fresh wanda lately? Is it different from older imps bottles you have smelled? I'm dealing with a big scent change on this one and wondering if this is characteristic of Wanda to age change dramatically or If this is just the end of our love affair?

this one is sheer genius!

In the bottle: I can't really smell much, a faint whiff of soft herbs perhaps.

Wet: soft lavender, a tiny touch of something lemony

Dry: it's blooming! Wisteria and rose are stepping forward and it's the soft almost watery rose that I so love in Despair!

30 minutes, It's continued to grow, adding a soft musk in the background and a drift of sandalwood. It is barely there with nose to wrist contact but it had a presence above the wrist and I got complimented ALL night at work.

& hours, still there but soft and faint. Now I can smell it with my nose on my wrist, but not otherwise. My only beef? I wouldn't call this melancholy Poignant, yes.

Truly a fabulous scent, soft, inviting, ladylike but not at all stiff. This is high praise from someone who generally favors spicy and resinous scents!! twice now I have fallen for herbal florals, OH MY!!!

5/5!!

This is a first for me Three Witches revisited smells like a wet dog on me.

I'm off to the corner to sulk and cry!

Sin, Lovitar, Bloodlust, bloodamber, Wrath all come to mind; but I would add something like ouija to the mix just because of how you described your friend.

I've fallen for Annabel Lee and it's unlike any of the other BPAL scents I own. Can anyone think of something similar to it?

to me it is like a blend of desdemona and Lady of shallot so one of them might work well for you

I gotta jump in here and say as well, the customer service from the lab has ALWAYS been awesome. I've had two screw ups, one mine, one a leaking bottle and both were fixed PRONTO. I feel spoiled, especially compared to other etailers I had to deal with over xmas...

Probably my most favorite to date. Soft herbed rose, clean, earthy and gentle all at once!

Funny, Jacob's ladder on me is a spot on dupe of the lion! I love the lion, but this Is EXACTLY the same.

edited to add: must have been a hormonal day. I've since tried it and can discern many NOT subtle differences. In the end this reminds me very much of shalimar. It's lovely and suprisingly lingers on my skin 18 hours after application!

Darn This one goes from intense sweet lovely chocolate to bathoom cherry air freshener in like 4 minutes. I loved the chocolatee and slight orange scent and then the cherry ruined it all!

light sweet and green initially on it makes my nose tickle,( like sniffing a bar of soap!) not sure who is the culprit, but the drydown isr apid and becomes soft and elegant without going a bit powdery. It is a light and bright scent, girlish and springlike and an easy one to love. I'l agree that it is simliar to desdemona, but desdemona is more straightforward, this is softer and has a slightly more herbal lilt to it. I'll keep this bottle just for fresh spring days or for when I want to smell like spring

This is lavender all right, with, I suspect a touch of camomille? Calming, soothing, quite nice. I will give this a whirl at bedtime tonite and can imagine dribbling a bit in the boys bathwater before bad as well. There is nothing perfumy about it at all, it is a theraputic lavender at it's best, simple and gentle and lovely.

I got lovely fir and apples and light spices out of the bottle. first on my skin the leaves and pumpkin came out to play but then I got...vinegar! apple cider vinegar , but vinegar nonetheless I'm pleased to say though, that I had planned to use this as a room scent, and for that it will do just fine.

Spices, musk, dragons blood and grain. It is the darkest smelling of the moons and is similar to bloodlust or sin,cathedral, bengal or anne bonny. I'm ovulating right now and smells like this are offfputting to me atm, but I like these at all other times and suspect I'll like this one as well. With all the resinous and woody notes in it I expect this will age spectacularly! I got two bottles but doubt I will keep both as I already have quite a collection of dark smeling oils. I'll have to give this a proper review in a couple of days when my hormones change.

This is dorian's older more elegant cousin! Dorian went TOO sweet on me, this one stays dryer without being puwdery. Initially is smells of lavender and chocolate, of all things! But shortly thereafter it mellows and rounds out to something more than the sum of it's parts, it is warm, clean, sexy and enveloping without being smothering, definitely a hit!

I have to add that dublin is amazing on my husband!

Any recommendations for a scent that's similar to my beloved, but discontinued, Shattered?

 

I get mostly the mint and citrus notes in Shattered, on my skin, with champagne also present, but any lotus, floral, or aquatic notes completely absent.

Hae you tried envy? On me it was mint and citrus, with a light herbal backing rather than champagne

The lion is just heavenly! It is another scent that I have earmarked as just perfect on my skin.

Wet, the spices DO smell like spice cake batter, but very quickly this settles into a scent of skin soaked amber and stays sexy yet comforting and personal. It lasts all day but never really wafts any distance from my body, you MUST lean in to get a whiff.

This is a scent I have had people ask about in tight quarters, and they ask in awe

Not a one of the wonderland blends has gone wrong for me and I am sad I waited so long to try this one. Obviously there are some I like better than others but if I had to pick a bpal category of hits, this very well might be it!

this one reminds me very much of hamadyad. Where hamadryad is cool to me, though, this one is hot. I get dry hot cinnamon, pepper and clove, but the honey or musk never seem to arrive, or they are in such low supporting roles that i never smell them. It's a very lovely spicey scent with amazingly close to the body wear, not lots of throw which I would have expected from the strength of the scent close up. Lovely scent, no skin reaction btw..

If you like silk road, this is a good next try as well, it leaves a similar memory, but is more direct.

I wanted to love Dorian, but the white musk was TOO much. I even have bought and traded bottles two times out of want to love it. That said Katherina does it! It takes the white musk and offsets it with sharp apricot in a way that is just divine! I just adore it and am soo happy about it especially since my nake is kathryn and Catherine was awful on me... So,,, I can see wearing this at work and in the home when i want to smell delicious but not necessarily sexay! Great smells!

Similar to : Dorian and white rabbit

wet and fresh on: Gah Yuck, chocolate and wine and something foetid.

woh, wait, this is gettint stronger in the chocolate smell, reminding me of 13, which I also really didn't like. Oh NO

drying: WOW! roses and warmth, wow what happened, this is lush edible rose dribbled over skin, YUMMY!

and so it stays.

Lesson in morphing seriously on this one, intitally it is just gawdawful, wash it off sick yuck and then it blooms into an incredible wonderful scent, LOVE IT!!

Oh, and Dublin!

Jabberwockey, envy and The World

chiroptera and midnight are sililar to my nose, with the midnight not being lemon balm dominant.